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anyone able to get a CB antenna to work on a Jeep TJ it's like the old CJ's??

niceguy71

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Massachusetts
Back to the OP: I've seen the likes of AS M-125 on a trunk lip mount fixed to the right cowl and seems to work very good.
Maybe a Wilson 1000 M mag mount on the hood, but they have gone pricy.
thanks Merlin..... your not kidding about gone pricy.. everything is nuts

... I'll play with my friends jeep soon.. I've been busy
... I think PRCGUY has the best solution with the NMO lip mount... nice to see you also think so ...... but I'm not sure what it will look like ... to put it on the flat part of the hood it's going to be in the drivers line of sight and I'm sure the driver will get sick of it quickly, passenger side has the stereo antenna so it will have to be on the drivers side???....... the AS M125 that you saw.... was that mounted next to the stereo antenna on the right?? I thought two antenna's that close together wouldn't work very well??
I'm going to try a lip mount K-40 just for fun ( I have a new one but I liked my Tram 3500 better)
.... I do listen to everyone as far as suggestions..... but I saw a guy years ago with a red devil antenna and he thought it worked well on his jeep...
it's been known by a lot of names Taurus red warrior...... and scarlett warrior
so I looked at a few video's ... it was cheap enough that I bought one to try ..... it was 29.99 plus shipping ( 42.50 with shipping and tax)
it's 6 feet tall ... it's half of a firestick.... fiberglass bottom with a 4 foot steel whip above it... so the fiberglass will go up to the top of the jeep and then it will be the 4 foot whip??/ for $42.50 i'll try it on the back tailgate mount my friend already has on.
question.... can I mount the lip mount on the same side as the stereo antenna???
 

niceguy71

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This is the crux of it. HF from a car is already very compromised and doing it from a Jeep is even worse.



Just spotted this which puts it a bit higher: MicroMobile®MXTA21 Jeep® Wrangler Bracket Mount

I've been told vertical body parts near the antenna having the largest impact near the antenna's tuning coil -- this suggests a base-loaded design would do poorly in this location. As for Firestik performance, other top-loaded antennas are available from Francis, Everhardt, Wilson, etc.

Rigs with mounts up front (front fenders, hood, etc) seemed to work well but I didn't care for the appearance, personally. One other nice thing about a windshield base mount is I could reach out the window, pull the antenna back, and hook it under the rain gutter for clearance in parking garages.

For my next Jeep (and I'm sure I'll own one again at some point) I plan to use the same setup as before but swapping the basic AM CB for SSB-capable.
thank you
I hadn't seen that mount... I'm still thinking the hood edge ( lip mount ) to get it away from the windshield... but I'll keep it in mind as I will try a few things and see what works the best.
 

Indrid_Cold

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Sep 18, 2022
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Freetown, Indiana
hi guys
well I was hoping I was DONE and could sit back and enjoy my base station and mobile unit in my Ford F150. ... lot easier to talk then get them set up.

my friends keep coming over and asking me what I'm doing on my retirement, so I show them my CB set up and they go out and buy one for their cars / trucks.
a few of the guys had cars with a unibody construction and I loan them one of my extra Tram 3500 and I set it up for them... they try it for a few days and love it and come back and with a new Tram 3500 to replace the one I let them borrow... most of the guys are getting 15 to 20 miles with a 4 watt radio... talking to my base station... once I set the SWR with my Ridge Expert they go home and I talk to them as they drive home... so far I've been able to talk to them till there in their driveway.

I had a friend call me and told me he bought a used Cobra 29 and a 4 foot Firestick with a spring that he mounted on the back drivers side tail light.... he does not have a spare tire in the back or the spare tire carrier to mount anything too... he mounted the radio to the side of the shifter and sounds like it's all installed and would like me to do the SWR...... I HATE Firesticks and never had one work more than a mile or so.... and I know jeeps just don't work very good.... so I had hoped to avoid ever trying to set a CB up on one.

so I'll range test it soon and see what we get for range.... then I think I'll suggest a better antenna... I know some guys here like the Siro 5000 Performer and if I can get an extension from the taillight mount that will go to the top of the Jeep????? maybe I can talk him into putting it there????? but I don't know how to make a non magnetic antenna work... do I have to ground the outside of the coax to the metal of the jeep?? do I need to buy a new better coax? I'm a total newbie on this style Antenna install. .. I could tell you I have installed about 20 to 30 different antennas ... but NONE OF THEM EVER WORKED so I think I'll start new with what you guys suggest.

my friend also said he would be interested in installing it on the side of the fender..... he has the factory Stereo Antenna on the passenger side, on the fender by the door... and there is a matching spot on the driver's side... so I would think someone must make a mast that would mount the same way... and go up to the top of the windshield of a Jeep?????

picture shows where the factory stereo antenna mounts,,,, is mounting a CB antenna on the opposite side a good idea?

this should be an interesting learning experience.

thanks in advance.
Greetings and felicitations from far away. I have a 259 centimetre (102 inch) antenna on my 2001 Jeep Wrangler mounted on the driver's side, rear bumper bolts. When I replaced the stock rear dented bumper on the Wrangler TJ with a stainless steel double tube bumper, I installed a standard mirror mount CB radio antenna bracket on one of the bolts that is used to hold on the stainless steel tube bumper. I had to drill the hole to be bigger on the aluminum bracket, then just bolted it on. the 259 centimetre antenna works incredibly good. When needing to go into the garage, or through offroad areas with lots of branches and vines, I pull the antenna forward and attach it to a small, black, bungee cord that brings it almost level with the top of the soft top. When I am in open terrain or on the road, I just unhook the antenna and I have a near perfect standing wave ratio. I have also used a Wilson Silverload on the same bracket and a firestick. But, the 259 centimetre antenna is superior for range and bandwidth. Many people complain that it is chrome. Incorrect, it is stainless steel with a 1000 year rust warranty. Get rid of the powder coat. It looks better but does not last long.
 

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krokus

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When I replaced the stock rear dented bumper on the Wrangler TJ with a stainless steel double tube bumper, I installed a standard mirror mount CB radio antenna bracket on one of the bolts that is used to hold on the stainless steel tube bumper.
Interesting setup. If you are in an area that gets wet weather, or near large bodies of water, you might want to seal that termination.
 

niceguy71

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hey guys!
well, my friend with the jeep and I had some time to work on his install tonight
I wanted to make a video to help other jeep owners if we had some miracles happen and got it to work really well...... but we were more focused on the install. and never took a video. we did it in the rain.
plus I didn't think we would get more than a couple miles.
he installed a $20.00 yard sale Cobra 29 that had a cigarette plug adapter... the adapter looked factory... looks like a pretty nice CB... it put out 4.7 watts dead key.
this is just a play toy.... he knows I'm into CB so he thought he would throw one on the jeep so he could talk to me if we meet up places. he lives 18.4 miles away and we hardly ever see each other anymore... but I thought it was nice of him to get into CB because I was doing it.... but I doubt he'll ever use it unless we are meeting up some place... so we are not going to go crazy trying to get it perfect. and the cigarette plug seems to work ok.

he called me on the way over on the CB and I heard him a 1/2 mile from my base station.
I am not a fan of firesticks but I'll try it.. his install looked good he ground the paint off the metal on the bottom of the tail light bracket and the bolts went into the tub. the firestick looked nice on it about 18 inches above the jeep. the swr was 3.1 when he got to my house.
I got my Rig Expert out and we dialed in the SWR fairly quickly and I was surprised that we got it 1.4 on channel one and 1.7 on channel forty.... so I said hmmm maybe it will work??.... he drove 1. 8 miles from the house and I lost him and told him to come back and we'll try a different antenna.... he said he could barely hear me???? my base should have been blowing his ears out???
I wanted to put a k-40 on the lip of the hood.... but the hood has a 1 inch folded lip.... it is not like a trunk lip... the hood metal goes to the back of the hood and is bent down at a 90 into the engine compartment about an inch to 1 1/4 ...no way to put the K-40 on without cutting the hood.

I remember a couple guys years ago that had a Red Devil antenna or a modulator or some other names but it was a 75 inch tall antenna similar to a firestick but everyone said they worked REALLY good........ the bottom is a 18" fiberglass mast.... I thought the 18" would bring the fiberglass to the top of the jeep and then it has a very springy steel whip that I thought would work well for off roading.

I watched a video of a guy testing it and a Siro megawatt 4000 and both worked equally good... the scarlet warrior cb antenna is only $29.99... for 30 bucks I thought I'd take a chance as the people in the video made a big fuss over it.

I screwed it on without the spring and the SWR was 2.0 to 2.2 .... I lower the antenna and got it 1.9 to 2.0...... I cut a 1/4 inch then again and again I had it 1.7 to 1.9 but no matter what I cut, it would not go lower?? so soon I cut too much off so we put the spring back on... it was 1.8 to 1.8.... i cut some more to try to lower it but it only got worse...... so we stopped at 1.9 to 1.9 best it was going to get.... I don't know why i couldn't adjust it? I cut 4 inches off.
he went out for a test I could hear him loud and clear for a few miles.... then I had to really listen to pick him out of the noise listening on my Quad 5. Antron 99 .....47 feet to the tip... he went 6.6 miles and I could barely hear him... but I heard him... to my surprise he said he couldn't hear me???? I turned my radio up to 50 watts but he said I was all broken up.
he came back, we visited for 20 minutes and he went home..... I talked to him on the way home and tracked him on the google map thing straight as the crow flies distance.
I could hear him well for 6 to 7 miles then it was spotty...he said he could no longer hear me???? with all my power and tall base I didn't expect that..... he hadn't heard me in five minutes so i figured that was that......I called him on the phone .. he was now by the long horn restaurant over 10 miles away.....and said I guess that's it... give me a 10 count and I'll see if I can hear you then I'm shutting the cb off and going to bed.... not expecting to hear him.... and he hadn't heard me in a few miles..... he got on the highway and I could hear him better and heard the 10 count clearly.... I responded I can hear you loud and clear knowing he couldn't hear me then shut the radio off........... later I called him at home and he said after his 10 count he heard me say I can hear your 10 count loud and clear and now I sounded like I was in the same room??? ( I wished I hadn't shut the radio off but he hadn't been able to receive me in 10 minutes)....... he sounded very well too and that was 10.4 miles on the google map thing on the computer!!!! so 10.4 miles is great.... I can hear him but he doesn't seem to hear my 50 watts and 47 foot tall base very well?????. but still 10 miles in a jeep was more than I expected.... next time we have time I'll let him try my Radioddity CS-47 with 8 watts and the noise reduction technology.....
below is the video of the Scarlett warrior and the place I bought it


 

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mmckenna

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Couple of things I'd play with:

The antenna will be directional away from the body. Depending on his direction of travel as he drove home, it may not have worked in his favor, until it did.

Vehicle electronics noise could play hell with the signal. Wouldn't matter how much power you were running if the noise from his own vehicle was stronger than your signal. See if you can get him to wire it to the battery/grounded to the body.
 

niceguy71

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Couple of things I'd play with:

The antenna will be directional away from the body. Depending on his direction of travel as he drove home, it may not have worked in his favor, until it did.

Vehicle electronics noise could play hell with the signal. Wouldn't matter how much power you were running if the noise from his own vehicle was stronger than your signal. See if you can get him to wire it to the battery/grounded to the body.
Thank you McKenna..,.
I knew the antenna would be directional..... but didn't think of how it would work in the test...That would explain why I could barely hear him and him not hear me until he got on to the highway.... I was thinking the highway height did it..... But twice this happened to us ... The 6.6 he turned around to come back and got stronger... And on his way home he got on the highway which is a 90 degree change in direction.
Next time we test it I'm going to swap out the radio... But I will run a 12/2 wire from the battery through the window of the jeep ( 7 foot of wire will reach) and see if it makes a difference .. the 6.6 mile he told me he could not hear me as the jeep with soft top has a lot of noise so I gave him a external speaker for test number 3 and that was a huge help....
Thanks again!!!!
 

slowmover

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Aside from the rest, clean power and an external speaker wake up a typically poor performer at an overall low cost.

Sort of like proof that a MUCH better antenna, mount, and install really DO matter once done. It can be more easily “heard”.

I’ve had men walk up to me at truckstops as I’m in the work truck — engine-off, APU-on and radio on — and they are floored that it’s CB they’re hearing thru the door I’ve opened to speak with them.

Usually, we’re hearing someone else at that location or close-by on the highway with dramatic effect.

This is when they notice the 7’ antenna pair. Some are interested. Most have overriding prejudice as they believe I’m gilding the lily. They “know” what is CB, already. (They don’t).

Nice work! Have the feedpoint of that A99 at 29’, eh? Great tool for those air checks as complementary to the Rig Expert.

— A C29 can be modded for better RX, but it’s the GALAXY 959 that’s the king from the era just past in RX/TX. The C29 is better known for its pleasant audio in the ears of others. It was also an easy to match to most amps, so that obsolete method of increased TX range (never matched by RX range; thus, a fail) will keep it around awhile. Needs align & tune to spec.

.
 
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niceguy71

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Terrain masking could also be an issue, but radiation patterns are the most likely candidates for gaps in coverage.

You could be right.
He had to go through a forest ( I live in the middle of the woods) and he also took a off ramp to turn around... And had to go a few miles to get back that brought him into the city
... The rain was coming down pretty good .... Hitting his soft top and his wipers going, it was hard for him to hear the radio the first couple tests .... We were soaked from adjusting/ changing antennas..,
So hopefully another evening we will test again.,...
.. I'm very puzzled why I couldn't get that antenna to change much on the swr meter??? It started at 2.0..,. Raising it a 1/4" would bring it to 2 1.., raise it a little more and it was 2.2.....

cutting small pieces off at a time I got the best at 1 -1/2 inches cut off brought it to the best of 1 7.... After that everything I did made it worse..... I like the antenna ... Looks good on the jeep and performed adequately for it being on the tail light with no metal under it
If I could have gotten it to swr of 1.5 I'd be pretty happy
 

niceguy71

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A trunk lip mount on the hood will provide more ground plane. Something similar to this and with a base loaded thin whip construction that gives in to branches and won’t stress the mounit.

View attachment 160145
I thought I'd do the same on my friends Jeep... but the edge of his hood is not a lip... the metal of the hood goes to the back of hood and then 90's down into the engine compartment for another 1 1/4" ... PRCGUY did you have to do any modification??? I'm thinking maybe I can drill two holes in the hood lip and place an L bracket on it and then attached the NMO lip mount to that.... .... if I was sure the Larsen C27S would work I would talk my friend into drilling a hole at the same location you have yours mounted.
I did talk to my friend on his CB... it sure was nice talking to "Secret Squirrel" again after 30 years
 

niceguy71

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someone shared this antenna radiation pattern picture when I was first looking to set up my mobile radio... and I saved it.
as mmckenna and krokus mentioned above,
I may have been losing my friend in the jeep because of the radiation pattern... so I went back and looked at the picture

YIKES his would be called the left rear bumper?? and my Goodness that is a TERRIBLE pattern.... if you're on the highway you won't be talking ahead or behind... all your doing is shooting your signal into the woods!

I'm thinking of talking my friend into drilling a hole in the hood where PRCGUY mounted his larsen.... I "think" the larsen C27S would work well... better than the Red Devil or whatever that thing I put on the jeep ( it actually works quite well, if not for sending the signal into the woods)
so if we mounted in on the back of the hood ... same location as prcguy did his ( his really looks nice! ) would the pattern be???? Right Front Fender???? or closer to center roof mount????
even the Front right fender pattern looks a lot better than what we have now ( left rear bumper)

as I said his hood doesn't have a lip ..... it is more like a square cake pan.. and the side of the cake pan is under the hood in the back..... I "think" I could bolt some metal to the cake pan edge and come up between the hood and cowl / firewall and bend it 90 degrees so it would sit an inch above the hood so I could use a NMO lip mount????... and hopefully still open and close the hood.... anyone ever done anything like that?... and the NMO lip mount... how close to the hood does it have to be to work well?


 

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niceguy71

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I had asked in this post why cutting 4 inches off the new antenna didn't really change the SWR .... no matter what I did it was always between 1.8 and 2.2 SWR
I talked a to an extremely intelligent man tonight that explained if there is no ground plane it will use the coax..... so no wonder I kept changing the antenna length and not much changed on the SWR.....
next step is going to be a Larsen on the back corner of the hood... I'll try a NMO magnet mount first to see how it works before drilling the hole... if it works I'll talk my friend into drilling the hole.

which one of these would you guys try... if either?

my two choices are

The Laird C27S This antenna comes with spring base which provides increased flexibility, better shape retention, and eliminates electronic noise & road noise. This antenna works like a 102 inch whip antenna but is ONLY 53 INCHES LONG! This is accomplished by using a DC grounded base coil construction. Mounting on a metallic ground plane is required.

or the

Larsen 27-30 MHz Mobile Whip Antennas NMO27B​

These base-loaded antennas are a maximum 52.5 in. tall at 27 MHz and require cutting to



 

mmckenna

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The Laird C27S This antenna comes with spring base which provides increased flexibility, better shape retention, and eliminates electronic noise & road noise. This antenna works like a 102 inch whip antenna but is ONLY 53 INCHES LONG! This is accomplished by using a DC grounded base coil construction. Mounting on a metallic ground plane is required.

These are base loaded 1/4 wave. I'd challenge the idea that they "work like a 102 inch whip" as the lack of length impacts performance.

Larsen 27-30 MHz Mobile Whip Antennas NMO27B
These base-loaded antennas are a maximum 52.5 in. tall at 27 MHz and require cutting to

I'm a fan of the Larsen NMO-27, only because mine is 30 years old and it's got a lot of miles on it, and it's working like the day i bought it.

Never used the CS27S. The spring probably isn't necessary if you are mounting it down on the hood, the whips are really flexible. I ran NMO-27's on the roof tops of full size trucks and never had the spring, and never had an issue with them. But maybe I never put them through the abuse your friend with the Jeep will.

There are those that will suggest using the Larsen NMO-30 base coil with a 64" whip and then tuning for low SWR. The longer length should work a bit better, but you are on your own with the tuning as the Larsen cut chart for the NMO-30 coil doesn't cover down to 27MHz.

Either antenna will work well, honestly.
 

niceguy71

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These are base loaded 1/4 wave. I'd challenge the idea that they "work like a 102 inch whip" as the lack of length impacts performance.
this is just the manufacture saying that.....
.I agree and laughed when I read it... but like all other gullible CB guys ...if you hear it can work as good as a 102" whip you start wondering????? could be true????? imagine if it was????.... and before I knew it, I wanted to give it a try and see if it was like a 102" whip!!!
so seeing I'm mostly playing with this jeep install ( I really don't think theirs's a way to make a jeep work very well with anything other than a 108" whip and ball mount) ..I was thinking if we could get 5 miles in all directions I'd be pretty happy and I think were close right now...but I know the Larsen would work better... at least receive better.
 

mmckenna

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this is just the manufacture saying that.....

Was it Laird, or was it the dealer? Dealers like to talk up that kind of stuff a lot. Antenna sales often involve a lot of exaggeration and snake oil.

Both antennas should be pretty comparable. I just prefer Larsen after using them for so many years. I think with it more centered in the ground plane, you'll see better overall performance. I know, hard to do on a Jeep.
 
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